For every good Game, there's a good Soundtrack.
The Weekly Geek's Top Ten Video Game Soundtracks are As Follows:
Caspian
1. Legend of Zelda - Link to the Past
2. Final Fantasy VI
3. Grant Theft Auto - Vice City
4. Mega Man X
5. Final Fantasy XI
6. Elder Scrolls IV - Oblivion
7. Metroid
8. Street Fighter II
9. Yoshi's Island
10. Castlevania
White Mage
1. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
2. Wild Arms
3. Final Fantasy VIII
4. Final Fantasy X
5. Final Fantasy Tactics
6. Kingdom Hearts
7. Final Fantasy X-2
8. Final Fantasy VII
9. Kingdom Hearts 2
10. Final Fantasy XI
The Geek
1. Final Fantasy VI
2. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
3. Katamari Damacy
4. Kingdom Hearts
5. Final Fantasy Tactics
6. Mega Man 2
7. Metroid Prime
8. Super Mario World
9. Shadow of the Colossus
10. Xbox Custom Soundtrack Feature
Frodo
1. Mega Man 2
2. Katamari Damacy
3. Final Fantasy VI
4. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
5. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
6. Super Mario World
7. Metroid Prime
8. Super Mario Bros. 3
9. Final Fantasy XI
10. Animal Crossing
Honorable Mentions:
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Actraiser
Super Mario Kart
Secret of Mana
Check it out! Frodo and Caspian explain their favorite game soundtrack picks after the jump.
Frodo:
I judged my entries based on appropriateness for the game (environment, ambience, etc) and pure nostalgia. The mark of a great game soundtrack to me is one that I can listen to and be taken back to the game instantly. I can hear a song and remember where I was and what I was feeling when I played the game.
10. Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing has one of the most appropriate soundtracks on my list. Every song is meant to make you relax and spend time in your town. They are thoughtful and quirky songs, meant to sound great with the amount of repetition that Animal Crossing requires. Songs during the day are bouncy and sunny, and songs in the wee hours of the night are sleepy and ambient. I would fall asleep to Animal Crossing playing on my TV and just leave it there all night, dreaming about Tom Nook breaking my thumbs.
9. Final Fantasy XII spent a great deal of time with Final Fantasy XI, and I think part of it was for the music. Every area had a distinctive, well composed theme. I remember starting out the game in the foggy woods outside of San'doria, hearing the medieval sounding flutes and drums, fighting orcs and sheep. One of my most distinctive memories is the first time I made the arduous trek to Jeuno, and barely escaping death coming through the gates. I was welcomed with a beautiful, triumphant theme that stuck in my mind for a long time after I quit the game (mainly because I spent so much time at the auction house in that damned overcrowded city).
8. Super Mario Bros 3:Gimme gimme gimme... Jimmy... Woods! SMB3 is part of every adult gamer's childhood, and part of the reason it has stuck with us is not only the tight and perfectly balanced gameplay, or the inventive levels, but the soundtrack. Koji Kondo was able to take the themes from the first Super Mario Bros and flesh out a whole new world. One of my greatest memories of all time, not just in video games, is beating SMB3 on New Year's Day after getting it for Christmas. I sat and watched the credits play while listening to the end music, satisfied, happy, and in my pajamas. Shame they had to change the end music for the GBA version. Best song in the game.
7. Metroid Prime:Talk about appropriate ambience. Metroid Prime was a risky game, a first person shooter Metroid? Many people were afraid it wouldn't have the same feel as past Metroid games. Retro went above and beyond, crafting a game so true to the Metroid universe it might as well be the best game in the series. The soundtrack is the perfect soundscape, making you feel alone, scared and on an alien world. The soundtrack is perfectly upbeat when it needs to be, and completely creepy the entire time.
6. Super Mario World:Again Koji Kondo is able to create a brand new soundtrack for a Mario game, utilizing a couple basic themes, and creating a whole new feel that is distinctly Mario. Super Mario World feels like you are in this crazy Dinosaur Land, while still retaining the fun quirk that makes it a Mario game. My favorite moments have to be the quiet drum music in the underground vanilla dome levels. Another great note was when you rode on Yoshi, the music changed slightly. Perfect.
5. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker:I've put a lot of Kondo on this list, but the man deserves it. He can take a long standing, very loved franchise like Zelda and not rehash old themes, but create entirely new ones that fit with the cel shaded art style of the game. Not only is Wind Waker visually gorgeous and flowing, the soundtrack is as well. From the epic ocean faring music to the little grunts and sound effects Link makes, I think Wind Waker has the best soundtrack in the series. So far.
4. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles:You can't deny the power of a Final Fantasy game soundtrack, and this spinoff game for the Gamecube is no exception. Kumi Tanoika fleshed out this game using ancient instruments, authentic pieces that set the feel of the game. Lots of love and care went into making each area unique, and the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles soundtrack is one that I highly recommend checking out even if you haven't played the game. One of the great things about the soundtrack is the feeling I get listening to it now, I remember when The Geek, White Mage and I would spend every Friday night questing through the Miasma. Awesome times.
3. Final Fantasy VI:Final Fantasy VI is one of those early SNES games that had such an impressive soundtrack it was hard to not play it, just to hear what great music was coming next. Every theme is appropriate, from the opening scene with the mechs marching through the snow, to each character's individual theme, to the 30 minute musical orgasm that is Dancing Mad and the ending theme. This is a soundtrack that I always come back to. It's just classic Uematsu, and I am looking forward to the GBA version of FFVI so I can relive that epic masterpiece all over again. For the tenth time.
2. Katamari Damacy:I doubt that Katamari would have been as popular in the US without it's soundtrack. A perfect mashing of Japanese pop, techno, and just plain weirdness, the soundtrack complimented the strange world of Katamari perfectly. Essentially you are killing these people and destroying their world, as you progress and get large enough to roll up houses and buildings you can hear their horrible screams, all while this peppy incomprehensible music is playing in the background. Katamari is what I like to call an ambassador game, one that can bring people who don't normally play into the gamer fold, and the soundtrack is a big part of that.
1. Mega Man 2:Gotta give credit where credit is due. Mega Man 2 was the pinnacle of SNES gaming, perfectly balanced levels, tough bosses, a great storyline and music so catchy that damned bubble man theme is STILL stuck in my head. It was a marvel of composition that they were able to create music that stands to this day as excellent techno fare with the teensy 8 bit chipset. Mega Man 2 used the music to create a futuristic robotic soundscape, culminating in the perfect last level: after fighting through an incredibly hard castle and having to fight all the bosses all over again you fall and fall and fall. No music plays. All you can hear is the dripping of acid from the ceiling. So very creepy, and definitely my vote for the best soundtrack moment in gaming history. Silence.
Honorable Mentions
Actraiser:
This SNES launch title was a strange mashup of a town sim and an arcade-style platformer. The music was orchestrated beautifully, calm on the sim levels and epic and energizing on the platform levels.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice CityVice City makes my honorable mention list just for sheer volume of licensed tracks. The 80's selection in this game makes the 6 disc soundtrack the essential 80's collection. The fact that you can't hear the soundtrack unless you turn on the radio in a car makes it even more inventive and interesting. It's got talk radio, metal, pop, reggae, everything.
Secret of ManaSecret of Mana was another one of those beautifully made Square games of the 90's. Each area has its own catchy theme, serious when it needs to be serious and quirky when it needs to be quirky. Coupled with the gorgeous hand drawn sprites and innovative gameplay, Secret of Mana was an essential game of my childhood.
Super Mario KartLast, but not least, Super Mario Kart deserves a mention for sheer appropriateness. The soundtrack was able to depart radically from the standard Mario fare and create something that was so very... I dunno... kart-like? I spent many hours in battle with friends in the multiplayer mode, and the rainbow road music still makes me anxious to this day.
Caspian:
Legend of Zelda - Link to the Past
Who didn't love trampling the grasses in Hyrule, frantically trying to light the candles in the dark dungeon levels, or blowing open a secret cave with a bomb to these lovely melodies?
Final Fantasy VI
All I gotta say is: Mog. And well, the fight victory music too!
Grant Theft Auto - Vice City
This really made you feel like you were rolling around in the 80s. Every single station, although satirical in nature, had great Miami-feeling top 40 tunes from the decade.
Mega Man X
Frodo gets more intensely into the glory of Mega Man soundtracks, but this one was a standout for me. One of the best, most evocative scores on an SNES game.
Final Fantasy XI
No MMO will ever touch the depth of the musings in all the zones. And what’s great, is they continue to write new, interesting music for it as they add new areas and quests. They don’t let laziness kick in and recycle the songs.
Elder Scrolls IV – Oblivion
There’s a total of maybe 3 ambient looped passages in this game, but they're so universal, and so fitting for the creepy dungeons and highly detailed villages, that you never get sick of them.
Metroid
From the second Samus appears in the Tank, the music is chilling. And every step you take toward Mother Brain is highlighted with the rise and fall of the musical ebb in the game’s atmosphere.
Street Fighter II
I think about this fighting game, and I realize I know every stage theme by heart. Guile’s stage is my favorite though- the fist pumping, high skirt wearing military chick in the background, getting thrown by Ryu and breaking the wooden crate. Oh yeah! It’s all comin’ back to me…
Yoshi's Island
Again, Frodo said everything there is to say about Mario Soundtracks, but I happen to think Yoshi’s Island is the funnest and most quirky of the franchise. Even the sound effects are riveting. The satisfaction you’d get from the noise of eating little apples off the bushes in the early levels, that was awesome.
Castlevania
This choice is pure nostalgia, but I can’t really deny it. Cracking Simon Belmont’s whip just wouldn’t be the same with out the glory of the cheesy midi music and sound effects in this 8-Bit masterpiece.
What are your top game soundtracks? Post em in the comments!
What say you?!